by Becca Steele
“Nothing. Just that you were upset on the phone. And since I dropped you off to meet your mother, I’m assuming she upset you?” he murmured.
“Yeah.” I had to tread carefully. I couldn’t bring up what I’d discovered about Caiden and Weston’s mum. “Basically, she lied to my face, saying she hadn’t heard anything from my dad for ages before he died. It all got too much for me—that woman is so fucking frustrating. I can’t believe I’m related to her.”
“You can be frustrating, y’know. Just saying.”
I turned to glare at Caiden.
“So can you.”
He grinned, unapologetic. “I know.”
Weston yawned widely, then flashed me a quick smile. “I’m sorry you’re related to her, but look on the bright side. You get me as your brother.”
“That’s true.” I smiled back at him, and he reached over and squeezed my hand lightly.
“And I guess at least this gives us more solid proof of her involvement. Since you know your dad had contact with her.” He scrubbed a hand across his face and yawned again. “We done for now? I’m fucking knackered. I’m off to bed.”
“Carly keep you up late last night, did she?” Cass smirked at him.
Carly? I mouthed to Cade, and he shrugged, mouthing no idea back to me.
“Maybe.” West grinned. He scooped up the laptop and headed out.
“Speaking of, I’ve got a girl keeping my bed warm upstairs, and she’s been waiting long enough.” Cassius stood and sauntered across the room. He paused in the doorway, and the gleam in his eye had me bracing myself.
“Hey, Winter. If you fancy joining us, you know where my room is. One of my areas of expertise is pleasuring two ladies at once.” He threw me a cheeky wink as he disappeared around the corner.
Cade growled low in his throat, and I groaned, burying my face in my hands.
Zayde glanced over at us, sighed, and disappeared from the room without a goodbye, closing the door behind him.
I was alone with Caiden again.
He looked at me. “Want to talk more, or do you want me to take your mind off everything?”
I stared back at him, watching as his eyes darkened, his gaze turning hungry. “Option two, please.”
He gave me a feral grin. “Come here.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
“Will anyone come in?” She chewed her lower lip.
“Nah.” I pulled her onto my lap, and she sighed, threading her fingers through my hair, scratching her nails over my scalp as I gripped her hips to line her up with my dick.
“Sorry, forgot my phone.” West’s amused voice came from the doorway, and I looked over Winter’s shoulder to see the fucker smirking at us.
“Can we just go upstairs?” she whispered in my ear.
“Yeah, okay.”
She climbed off me, picking up our drinks, her sexy ass swaying as she walked towards the door. I adjusted my dick, already straining against my jeans.
I caught up with her, wrapping my arms around her slim waist, pressing into her back. She carried on walking, laughing breathlessly as I kissed up her neck, then shivering as I scraped my teeth over her skin.
“Cade. We’re not gonna make it to your bedroom at this rate.” The drinks in her hands sloshed around, the contents dangerously close to spilling over the tiled floor.
“Careful with those drinks.” I couldn’t stop touching her.
“Stop distracting me.”
“Get up the stairs, now.”
“Let go of me and I will.” I released her from my grip, and she raced up the stairs, then paused in my bedroom door to look back at me, eyebrow raised and a cocky smile on her lips. “You coming, or what?”
“I will be, soon.” I smirked, and she rolled her eyes playfully, backing into the room and putting the drinks down on my side table.
“Ugh. You’ve been spending too much time with Cass.”
Reaching her, I backed her up against the bed, using my weight to tip her backwards. My amusement faded as I straddled her, leaning down to nip at her ear. “Don’t mention him. Or any other man,” I warned, my voice hard and possessive. “You’re mine, okay?”
She stared up at me, her pupils dilated with lust, and licked her lips. “Yours, huh?” she asked in a low, throaty tone.
My dick was fucking begging for release as she scraped her nails down my back before gripping my ass and grinding me into her. I stifled a groan. “We discussed this. While we’re fucking, you’re mine. No one else’s. Clear?”
“Clear. Get off me.”
“Oh. No. Snowflake, you don’t get to order me around.”
“You’ll like this.” She pushed at my chest, and I moved up. Reluctantly.
“Sit against the headboard. I’m gonna thank you properly for my car.”
I see.
She didn’t have to thank me, but fuck if I’d stop her.
“Okay.” She climbed off the bed, and my gaze tracked her as she padded over to the light switch and turned it off, leaving just the dim glow coming from the small lamp in the corner of the room. Taking a big gulp of her drink, she tapped at her phone screen and the intro to “Wicked Games” by The Weeknd started playing.
With a flick of her wrist, she tossed her hair over her shoulders. And then, she stripped for me, confident and unhurried, her movements slow and sexy, in time with the music, until she was just in her underwear, and I was salivating for her.
“Get over here.” My voice came out as a guttural rasp.
Fuck, what was this girl doing to me?
“Not yet.” She bit her lip, her confidence faltering slightly, and it only made me want her more. “Can you…get your cock out? And stroke it? I want to watch you while you watch me.” Her cheeks were flushed, and her pupils were huge as she stared at my erection.
“Fuck, Snowflake.”
Ripping my T-shirt over my head, I unbuttoned my jeans and tugged them off, then slid my boxers down and groaned in relief as my dick was finally freed.
“Cade,” she moaned. “Touch yourself.”
“Bloody hell,” I muttered, taking my dick in my hand and giving it a tug as she undid her bra and let it fall to the floor. Her tits stood out, high and fucking perfect, her nipples begging for me to suck on them. I stroked my hand up and down my dick as I watched her shimmy out of her underwear, and she was completely bared to me. I hissed through my teeth as my hand moved faster. “Snowflake, get over here, now.”
She whimpered and shook her head, her gaze fixated on what I was doing to myself.
Her hand reached down between her legs.
“Don’t you fucking dare. Get. Here. Now.”
Suddenly she was launching herself across the bed, licking across my IV tattoo, and then my hands were tangled in her hair and she was sucking my dick into her mouth, all hot, wet, suction, her tongue swirling around the head, then her hand cupping my balls while she took me all the way to the back of her throat.
“I’m gonna come,” I gasped, and then she was pulling her head away and I was coming, hard and fast, over my stomach.
“Hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” she moaned, falling back on the bed, sliding her hand between her legs again.
“Snowflake. Wait.” I stilled her hand. I cleaned myself off, then positioned myself between her spread legs. She was fucking soaked already, and I dragged one finger through her wetness, making her thrash on the bed, thrusting her hips upwards to try and get more contact.
Stilling her with my palm flat against her stomach, I sucked my finger into my mouth, and she licked her lips, reaching for me. Moving out of her reach, I smirked at her and picked up the glass of JD on the table next to us, then tipped the glass so the cold drink dribbled down onto her body, between her tits and down to her belly button. She gasped, and her gasp turned into a moan as I licked the trail of liquid all the way up from her belly button to her tits.
“Cade. Stop teasing me.” Her voice was breathless and begging.
“Just for that,
I’m making you wait longer.” I reached for the glass again and fished out one of the melting ice cubes.
She shrieked as I placed it on her heated skin. “That’s fucking freezing, you asshole.”
I silenced her with a forceful kiss, sliding the ice cube onto one of her hardened nipples, making her hiss, before I dragged it away and moved my head down to suck the nipple into my mouth.
“Oh, fuck. That feels amazing,” she moaned. I moved the ice cube to her other nipple and did the same, then dragged it down her body, following it with my mouth. I’d never bothered playing with girls like this, but fuck if I didn’t want to keep doing it with her.
The ice melted before I got to her spread legs. She was panting by now, reaching her hands out to bury them in my hair, trying to push my head down. I laughed but decided to stop torturing her.
I flicked my tongue over her clit, and she arched off the bed. Hooking my arms around her legs, I flicked my tongue across her clit again, then licked through her wetness.
“Cade. Please,” she moaned.
I made her come three times, the third time with my dick pounding into her as she called out my name.
Heading out of the bathroom, I grabbed some boxers from my drawers and a T-shirt for Winter, then turned off the lamp. The blinds were open, and the moon cast a dim strip of bluish light across the middle of the room. I handed her the T-shirt and pulled on the boxers, then slid under the covers next to her.
What the fuck was I doing? The other times I’d fucked her, she’d fallen asleep and I’d left as quick as I could. Somehow, I was now lying with her in my bed, my arm round her, her head on my chest.
“This is more fun than you hating me,” she mumbled drowsily, tracing lazy patterns across the ink on my forearm.
“Yeah.”
I spoke into the dark room, intending to apologise to her, but instead, the words I’d never spoken to anyone, other than Cass and Zayde, came out instead. “When I was fifteen, my mother killed herself.”
I heard her sharp intake of breath, but she remained silent, stroking her fingers over my skin. “Your mother had an affair with my dad. Went on for years, I think. He wasn’t exactly subtle about it, either.” My fists clenched, the memory of my parents’ constant arguments forever burned in my mind. “My mother withdrew into herself. Started seeing a doctor, got prescribed a fuckload of drugs, turned into a shell of herself. Your mother was constantly finding excuses to come over to our house, flaunting her affair in front of my mother, knowing there was nothing she could do.”
“Cade. I had no idea what she was up to. I’m so sorry.” Winter’s voice was low and sad. “Since me and my dad moved away, I’ve hardly had anything to do with her. He really loved her, you know. It’s weird—she seems to be able to get men under her spell, and they’ll pretty much do anything for her.”
“She’s a beautiful woman. And she can charm anyone,” I admitted through gritted teeth.
“Not you, though.” She wriggled further up my body and kissed my jaw.
“Never. Uh, so one evening—it was a Friday night—I got home and there was no one else around. My dad was out with Paul and Michael—Cass and Z’s dads—and West was round his mate’s house. My mum had been in bed ill all day. I went up to check on her, and she wasn’t in her room.”
I took a deep breath, trying to keep my voice steady.
“Cade, you don’t have to talk about this,” she said softly, running her hand up and down my arm.
“It’s okay.” I tightened my hold on her, staring up at the ceiling, unseeing. “I had a feeling, y’know? That kind of sick feeling you get where something’s wrong. The house was too still, too quiet. I checked her bathroom, but she wasn’t there. I thought maybe she was downstairs. Getting something to eat or whatever, since Allan wasn’t around that weekend. Something made me check the guest bathroom down the hallway, and when I tried the door, it was locked.”
I choked on the words as I rushed to get them out. “I panicked when she didn’t answer. I somehow managed to break down the door, and I found her, but I was too late. If only I’d got home sooner, I might have been able to save her. If only—”
“Caiden.” She climbed onto me, raining kisses all over my face. “I’m so sorry. I hate that you think that way. You shouldn’t. You couldn’t have known. You can’t feel responsible for what happened.”
“I do, though.”
She made a pained noise and stared down at me. “You. Are. Not. Responsible.”
I had no words.
I pulled her down so she was lying flat on top of me, her head on my chest and my arms wrapped around her, her presence soothing me. Telling her—I hadn’t meant to, but it was out there now, and it sounded cliché as fuck, but I felt like a burden had been lifted.
And whatever was going on between us, I trusted her.
I trust her?
Yeah, I did.
We lay there for a while, occupied with our own thoughts, until she lifted her head to look at me, taking a deep breath. “I need to tell you something.” Her voice was hesitant, her eyes all huge and serious. “When I met up with my mother yesterday, she told me to stay away from you. And she…fuck. I’m sorry, Cade.” Tears filled her eyes. “I didn’t know whether to say anything, and it’s been killing me. She told me that your mum took her own life. She didn’t give me any details at all, just made it as a throwaway comment, but-but…” She trailed off, the tears now running down her face freely.
I was fucking speechless. And livid. I lifted her off me and shot off the bed, crossing straight over to the bathroom and slamming the door behind me.
“Fuck!” I punched the door, then again for good measure. Sinking down onto the floor beside the bath, I dropped my head into my hands, pain radiating up my arm.
I sat there for a long time, breathing in and out deeply, trying to calm myself.
When I managed to cool off enough that I no longer had the urge to punch something, I headed back into the bedroom, The lamp had been turned back on, and my eyes went straight to Winter, huddled on the bed.
“Do you want me to leave?” Her quiet, shaky whisper cut through the silence.
I climbed onto the bed and scooted up against the headboard. “Snowflake.” I pulled her into my arms. “Why would I want you to leave?”
“You were angry with me.”
“No. I wasn’t angry with you; I was angry with her. You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“I didn’t tell you that I knew.”
“Hey, you only found out yesterday.” A thought occurred to me. “Is that why you were so upset on the phone to Cass?”
She nodded.
“Okay. Well, what’s done is done. Let’s draw a line under it for now, yeah, and tomorrow we can concentrate on finding out everything we can to bring Christine Clifford down.”
“Alright.” She was silent for a minute, holding on to me, and then she sighed heavily. “Cade? What about West? Don’t you think he has the right to know?”
I stiffened. “No. He doesn’t need to know. Do you know how much fucking guilt and failure I feel? There’s. No. Fucking. Way I want him to feel even a tenth of that.”
“He’s an adult. He has a right to know.”
“Leave it,” I warned her through gritted teeth.
“Fine. I’m not comfortable keeping it from him, though.” She buried her face in my chest.
“It’s not your place to tell him.”
“I know,” came the muffled voice. Raising her head, she continued. “I won’t say anything. Just telling you I don’t feel comfortable.”
Before I could say anything else, she swung her body round so she was straddling me. “Can we finish off tonight with something happy?”
“Fuck, yes.”
All other thoughts flew out of my mind as she rocked her hips against me, and we ended the night the same way we’d started it—with my dick buried deep inside her, and her screaming out my name.
TWENTY-EIGHT
I�
�d been a ball of nerves all morning. Today was the day the guys were going to Alstone Members Club. The last week, I’d hardly had a chance to see Cade, let alone the other boys, other than in passing. We were all completely swamped with end-of-semester assignments and exam prep, on top of everything else.
My mother had made no effort to speak to me since I’d walked out on her a week ago, and I was in no hurry to reconnect with her after everything. I’d told Kinslee that I’d fallen out with her, leaving out the part about Caiden’s mum, and she’d been horrified. We’d ended up talking late into the night, and I was beyond grateful to have her support. She’d had her share of family problems, from the few things she’d mentioned, and I had the feeling that she really understood where I was coming from.
Standing in line to pay for my lunch after a long morning of lectures, I scanned the cafeteria tables and saw Weston waving at me. There they were. The Four, on a central table right by the windows.
I paid for my lunch and walked towards them with a smile. Their faces were masks of indifference, but I could see past the hard exterior now. Somehow, against all odds, we’d gone from enmity and mistrust to friendship and mutual respect.
Placing my tray down on the table in front of the empty seat next to Caiden, I pulled out the chair. His arm shot out, stilling my movements, and I turned to meet his intense gaze.
“Hi,” he said, then pulled me into his lap and kissed me, right there, in the middle of the crowded cafeteria.
“Wow. Hi.” I stared into his stormy eyes, taken aback by his public display. “What was that for?” I distantly heard Cassius say something, and I felt both curious and hostile stares burning into me from every direction, but all my focus was on the man in front of me.
He shrugged. “Just felt like it.”
“Um, okay.”
He spun me around. “Eat,” he instructed, then buried his face in my hair. “I missed you,” he muttered, tightening his arms around my waist.
My stomach flipped at his words.